Augustine the expositor?

I have been reading Augustine lately. When I was in New Orleans last year (pre-Katrina), I found an old second-hand bookstore in the French Quarter that had a copy of Augustine’s work on the Trinity which also contained his sermons on 1 John. I was generally familiar with his more popular works but reading his sermons has deepened my understanding of Augustine’s expository ministry. Much like Calvin, it is tempting for us to think of Augustine as merely a stuffy theologian but both men were faithful pastors devoted to the exposition of Scripture. After reading his sermons, I found Hughes Oliphant Old’s understanding of Augustine to be spot on:

“In his homiletical work, Augustine gave first importance to expository preaching. This was quite consistent with the whole theological system. Augustine had a strong theology of grace, and a strong theology of grace leads to a strong emphasis on revelation. Sermon after sermon we find our preacher intent on nothing so much as explaining the Holy Scriptures, for there it was that God revealed himself” (from Hughes Oliphant Old, The Reading and Preaching of the Scriptures in the Worship of the Christian Church: Volume 2 The Patristic Age, 345-46).